Help:Signatures


 * Note: This page describes several signature coding options for technical purposes. All discussion comments still require a signature consisting of a user page link, talk page link, and date/time stamp, such as the one produced via the standard four tildes . See signature rules for details.

Your signature is your linked username followed by today's date and the current time.

When you leave a new comment on a discussion page, always add your signature to the end of the comment by using four tildes: ~

These four tildes are a special code that will automatically be replaced with your username and the date and time when you save your edit.

Example: Typing this:

Becomes this if you have the default signature:
 * Hello world! User: (talk), 28 August 2024 (UTC)

Other signature codes
There are three default options. Four tildes are standard (full signature). Typing three tildes results in a username-only signature (without timestamp). Typing five tildes results in a pure timestamp (without username).

The tildes are automatically substituted with your username (linked to the appropriate user page) and the current timestamp (time/date) when you save a signed edit. This helps other users follow the chronological order of discussions, and to identify the author of a particular comment.


 * If you edit without logging in, your IP address will take the place of a username. Usernames and IP addresses are also stored in page histories as a record of who wrote what, so others can always verify signatures.


 * If you can't find the tilde on your keyboard, you can use the signature button text-bottom|link=|signature button of the default edit toolbar.


 * Signatures do not work in edit summaries (they do not translate from ~ there).


 * Timestamps are formatted according to the wiki server's default locale settings (language, script, date and time format), and not according to your personal wiki preference settings.

Customized signatures
Registered users can customize their signature (the part between the two hyphens and the timestamp) by changing the field "" in their preferences. By default, anything you enter there will be wrapped with. To use a special linking (without this automatic link), you have to enable “Raw signatures.” Then you can add Wiki markup and also HTML (as far as allowed on the wiki) as you like. However the new signature must conform to the Signature rules.

Changing your signature will not override the username that is recorded in page histories, nor change signatures placed in the past. Remember that the primary purpose of a signature is user identification to facilitate communication, they are not an expression of your creativity.

If you enable “Raw signatures” but don't add any customized signature string, you'll sign with your unlinked username.

One common customization example: